The great paradox of city gardening is that while there is limited space in which to plant, the lack of hungry herbivores (such as deer) mean that one can successfully grow a great deal more than is possible in suburban or country lots. However, the lack of space is always an issue for us and we have been exploring creative ways to find more growing area. This is a picture of Tim's latest effort - the bean tee-pee. He crafted it out of limbs that he pruned from the pear tree in front of the house. The area he set it in was designated as "lawn." I pointed out that we only walked there to water the beds along the property line and I didn't see why we couldn't just pull the hose around. Tim needed no convincing and our new bean circle was created.
We actually grew beans up pear branches last year as well (see above right.) Tim created an arbor between two tomato beds across the yard. It was wonderful in the early summer, a lovely shady arch that we walked under to get to the other side of the yard. One could stand under it and reach up and pick a bowl full of beans for supper. However, by midsummer it was so heavy with beans that the vines pulled the branched down towards the center and we could no longer cross under. Navigating the yard became a real challenge. But the beans certainly thrived. A bonus this year is how well the tomatoes are doing in those beds. Beans are great fixers of nitrogen, so our bean circle next year will probably host a tomato.
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